ONE GUN EVERY NINE MINUTES: THE REAL MATH BEHIND VEHICLE STORAGE SECURITY

Where the nine-minute number comes from

Everytown analyzed FBI NIBRS data from 337 cities across 44 states, covering a combined population of roughly 63 million people. In 2022, the analyzed cities reported nearly 112,000 stolen guns. Just over half of those reported stolen guns came from cars.

That works out to nearly 62,000 guns reported stolen from cars in those cities in 2022. There are 525,600 minutes in a year. Divide 525,600 by roughly 62,000, and the result is about 8.5 minutes per gun stolen from a car.

Rounded to the nearest minute, that becomes the “one gun every nine minutes” figure.

What the number does not mean

The nine-minute figure does not mean your specific vehicle has a one-in-nine-minutes chance of being broken into. That is not how the math works.

The number is an aggregate frequency. It spreads nearly 62,000 reported thefts across an entire year and across hundreds of cities. Any one vehicle's risk depends on location, visibility, parking time, local theft patterns, storage method, and whether the vehicle presents an obvious target.

What the number does show is scale. Gun theft from cars is not a rare edge case. In the analyzed cities, it was happening throughout the year at a steady enough rate to average one reported theft every nine minutes.

Why the number is probably conservative

Everytown and ATF both point to the same reporting problem: not every stolen firearm is reported to law enforcement. ATF's NFCTA report cites a 2016 Bureau of Justice Statistics survey indicating that only about 75% of private gun thefts are reported to police.

ATF also notes that federal law does not require private citizens to report stolen firearms, and only some states have their own reporting requirements. That means the reported number is the number we can count, not necessarily the full number of stolen guns.

For owners, the practical point is simple. The known number is already large. The real number is likely larger.

How storage changes the math for one vehicle

For one owner, the right question is not “what is the national rate?” The better question is “what changes the risk for my vehicle while it is parked?”

There are four practical variables that matter: visibility, access, attachment, and routine.

Those variables do not make a vehicle theft-proof. They do reduce obvious signals, reduce easy access, and create a stronger storage routine than leaving a firearm loose or visible.

Visibility is the first problem

Many vehicle break-ins start with a cue from outside the vehicle. A bag, case, holster, laptop sleeve, box, or visible safe can make the vehicle look worth checking.

That is why the first storage rule is not complicated: do not advertise the target. Remove visual cues before the vehicle is left unattended.

BoostedSafe is designed around that problem. The booster-seat disguise cover helps the safe blend into the rear-seat area instead of looking like a standard lockbox sitting in the cabin.

Attachment is the second problem

A locked container is better than loose storage, but attachment still matters. If the container is not connected to the vehicle, the container itself may become the thing someone tries to remove.

BoostedSafe Elite is designed to lock and anchor into compatible rear-seat LATCH or ISOFIX points. That creates a different storage setup than leaving a loose lockbox in the footwell, under a seat, or in the cargo area.

It is still not theft-proof. No vehicle safe should be sold that way. The goal is a better storage routine: hidden, locked, and connected to the vehicle when compatible.

The practical takeaway

The nine-minute number is not meant to scare people into thinking every parking lot is the same. It is meant to show that gun theft from vehicles is a constant, repeated pattern across the studied cities.

The owner cannot control the national number. The owner can control the cabin cues, the storage method, the timing, and whether the firearm is locked and attached before the vehicle is left unattended.

That is the real math behind vehicle storage. You are not trying to guarantee that theft can never happen. You are trying to avoid being the easy vehicle in the lot.

Related BoostedSafe reads

These guides help explain the data behind stolen firearms, city-level vehicle gun theft, and vehicle theft hot spots.

Official sources to read

Use the original sources below to review the numbers directly. Everytown is the source for the nine-minute figure. ATF is the source for the reporting-gap context.